'From the very beginning it was always Kooks... and Pogues.

Some people with everything. And some with nothing.

That's the way it's always been. And that's how they wanna keep it.

Some people make the best of it. And some people fight against it.

I've always tried to fight. It's how I was brought up, regardless of whether I liked it.

But at some point... you kinda have to remember what you're fighting for. And why you want it.'

They'd lived on that island for a month.

JJ's flag design had been longsince completed. The chicken in the coconut bra and crocs, smoking a J. POGUELANDIA in huge block capitals above it.

It flew above their camp now, tied on tight.

They'd all worked together to make everything.

They'd been there for twenty nine days, according to the tally marks Tyler and JJ were leaving on a tree with P4L carved into it, using JJ's Swiss army knife. And in those twenty nine days, they'd really made the place feel like home.

They'd found coconuts, hunted for fish with handmade spears, made a shelter to sleep under, created a firepit and an area to sit around. And they had done it together, all working as a team.

Elora had never felt more part of a family. She'd never really had a family, just a father she'd loved and a mother who hadn't given a shit.

But this was different. This was something entirely new. And so was the whole boyfriend thing, which was something she and Tyler had worked hard to work out over the past month.

It was easy for John B and Sarah, having been in a relationship for a while now. And JJ and Kie and Pope and Cleo weren't in relationships, so it was easy for them, as well. Elle and Tyler were still working on their's, though, and it had been hard at times.

To be honest, being on a desert island had not been what Elora was expecting for where they defined their relationship, and established it. But that's what it had been like, and to be honest, now she was through it, she wouldn't have it any other way.

Which is why she now found herself up on a cliff in the dead of night, the blonde boy right next to her, pointing upwards.

"That one looks like a jellyfish."

"What?!"

"What do you mean what? It does!"

"Good thing there's no weed here otherwise I would actually think you were high right now!"

"What do you think it looks like, then?"

"I don't know, like- a bear, maybe?"

One look into those bright blue eyes and Elora was bursting into laughter, collapsing into Tyler's embrace. The two were lying up on the cliff, stargazing and being idiots. The rest of the group were asleep down on the beach, but sleep hadn't been coming easily to her over the course of staying on the island, so she and Tyler had been coming up here everytime she'd been struggling.

"I love you so much, but that is not a bear," Tyler told her, wrapping an arm around the girl tightly and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Elora took a chance to look at him. After being beat up by Rafe on the Coastal Venture, he was doing surprisingly well. The cuts had all but gone and all the swelling had gone down. He still had a few small bruises on his face but apart from that, he was mark clear.

"I love you too, Ty," she replied breathlessly, leaning in and kissing him.

It was stuff like this that she was so thankful for.

Because there was truly nothing for her back home, and if they ever did go back then she knew that Tyler could be forcefully taken away from her, and there was no universe on earth where she would ever want that.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked the blonde boy as they pulled apart.

"Always," he smiled back at her.

"Just... how long ago did you realise you wanted to become a Pogue?" Elora asked carefully, eyes making direct contact with his.

Tyler sighed slightly, biting his lip. He had an answer to this, but he wasn't sure she was going to believe him.

"Honestly, er... ever since we kissed for the first time and I realised how much of a dick I'd been to you," he said to her. "I know you're not going to believe that, but... I just, I saw you with the Pogues after that and I kinda realised that- that my 'friends' only ever liked me when I was being like that. And I didn't wanna be like that anymore."

Elora took this in, eyes widening slightly. "Seriously?" Was all she could ask afterwards.

"Yeah," nodded Tyler. "Seriously."

And then she was kissing him again, but longer and harder than the first time, hands and tongues flying everywhere. And a soft groan was escaping his lips and she was gone, absolutely gone for him as she raked her fingers through his hair, coming up to straddle his hips.

She didn't really remember falling asleep that night, but she did know that the next morning, she and Tyler awoke with John B and JJ standing over them making loud kissing and moaning noises.

Fuck them, though.

She'd finally decided she was worthy of love and she wasn't going to waste it.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

A new day, a new tally on the tree.

And a game of truth or dare for them all to get involved in. Complete with a cool hat made from leaves that Sarah had made for the person doing the truth/dare to wear.

"Okay, John B, your turn," the Cameron girl said as she put the hat on his head. "Truth or dare?"

"Alright, alright, truth," John B stood up.

"Truth?" Sarah smiled slightly, looking upwards as she tried to figure out what she was going to say. Then, she took a deep breath and said. "If you could do it all again... what would you do different?"

It was a good question, sure. And everyone started to answer before JB.

"Uh, get the gold out before Ward did," JJ shrugged.

"Maybe hide the cross a little better," Pope suggested.

"Not upset the wasps nest in the church?" Elora piped up with a laugh.

"Not yell 'murderer' at Ward, maybe," Kie bit her lip.

"Uh, steal a couple bottles of rum before we jumped off the boat?" John B answered.

"Yeah, why didn't you do that, actually?" JJ asked, prompting them all to laugh.

"I dunno, maybe cause I was in a fight to the death?" John B replied.

"Well, I'd personally wanna get another shot at Rafe," Tyler added.

"And I would look both ways before crossing the street," Cleo finished, referencing when JB accidentally ran her over in the Bahamas.

"Yeah, my bad, my bad," John B put his hands up.

"Your turn, chief!" Cleo seemed unbuttered, looking up at John B.

"Uh... Elora! Truth or dare?" John B asked, placing the hat on Elle's head as everyone turned to the redhead.

She sighed, looking upwards as she decided. "Truth."

John B shrugged slightly, coming up with his question, a wicked smirk crossing his face. "What is your most embarrassing moment?"

"Oh, fuck off JB, you already know that!" Elora said, covering her face as John B, Kie, JJ and Pope all began to laugh.

Cleo, Sarah and Tyler were all very confused, being the only three in the group that didn't know this.

"Uh, care to enlighten us?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, I'm quite interested," nodded Sarah.

"Okay, so..." Elora began, not able to keep the embarrassed smile off her red face. "The first time I was high off JJ's cousin's cripple, I might have tried to do a strip tease on the Pogue and got as far as taking my bikini top off before they got me to stop."

The whole group burst into laughter, Elora's face going redder and redder.

"And that's not all!" JJ shouted. "She tried to get us to join in as well! Said she wanted us all to go skinny dipping!"

"Urgh, I'm never gonna live that down," Elora said, hands covering her face.

"Wait, so you were just standing naked on the Pogue-" Tyler started, looking in shock at his girlfriend.

"Nah, we shoved her in once she got that far, and once the cold water hit she came back a bit," shrugged Kie. "And we were out quite far, so no one saw except us."

"Yeah, but I'm still scarred for life," Pope shook his head with wide eyes.

"Well I'm sorry about that Pope, but it's not like you guys tried to stop me!" Elora said, face still red. "Right, can we stop discussing my first-time-being-high endeavours and move on?"

"Well, you've got the hat Miss Skinny Dip, who're you passing it to?" JJ grinned.

"Erm- Kie!" Elora said, handing Kiara the hat. "Truth or dare?"

Kie sighed. "As tempted as I am to pick dare after that, I'm gonna have to go with truth."

"Okay..." Elora bit her lip. "If you could go back home to your parents' house on Figure Eight right now... would you?"

Kie flicked her eyes between them all, her face pinched in thought. Elora thought she was going to say yes for a second, but then she shook her head. "No chance."

"Seconded!" Sarah grinned.

"Thirded!" Tyler added.

Elora smiled, heart filled with comfort to know that the three people in this group that actually had decent houses wouldn't go to them now even if they could.

"The shower's tempting though," Kie added.

"Oh, I could use a fat shower right now," nodded John B.

"Ty!" Kie said, frisbeeing the hat to the blonde boy. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Tyler replied instantly, grinning.

"Alright then," Kie smiled. "I dare you to race Elle to the big palm and back."

The 'big palm' was the huge tree they'd got most of their coconuts from. It was only about a hundred metres up the island but would make a great race point.

"Oh, it's on!" Tyler grinned, as Elora got up.

"Think you can beat me?" She smirked.

"Of course!" Tyler smirked.

"Oh, it's so fucking on, Tyler Thornto-"

"Okay, okay, okay!" Kie mediated, the whole group standing up and heading down to the stretch of beach before them. The brunette drew a line in the sand with her heel, announcing. "Race up the beach, round the big palm and back. Whoever crosses this line first is the winner!"

"Whoo!" JJ grinned. "My money's on Ty!"

"Shut the fuck up, J! You know I have this," Elora replied.

"Nah, you're backing the right horse, JJ," Tyler grinned.

"Well, I'm supporting Elle," Sarah shrugged.

"Me too!" Cleo grinned.

"I've gotta go with Ty on this one," Pope shrugged. "Sorry, Elle."

"Such little faith in me!" Elora rolled her eyes.

"Okay!" Kie shouted, a huge grin plastered across her face. "Three, two, one, GO!"

Despite the huge amount of manual labour the Pogues had all done over the past month, it was still hard to push herself into a full sprint.

However, she wanted to beat Tyler. So she was going to do it.

Her legs burned as she ran, just a tiny bit behind him as the Pogues whooped and cheered behind them. The two legged it up the beach, grinning and letting the wind whoop their hair back.

Elora made it to the big palm first but slipped slightly, allowing Tyler to take the lead.

"Asshole!" She yelled as she ran after him, back down to where the Pogues were waiting, jumping up and down.

"WHOOOOOO! GO, ELORA!"

"COME ON, BEAT HER ASS, TY!"

Ten metres from the finish and Tyler was still ahead.

Five metres and she was closing it.

Three metres and she was drawing closer.

One metre and he was ahead again-

"Whoooooooooo!" Tyler grinned as he crossed the line first, holding his hands up to the air as he panted.

"Fuck off!" Elora shouted, rolling her eyes as she crossed second, hi fiving Sarah for her attempt.

Tyler chuckled slightly, smirking at her. "It was a good attempt, I'll give you that one."

Elora sighed heavily, picking up the hat from where he had discarded it. "Just hand this over and have it done with."

"Alright, er... JJ!" Tyler handed him the hat. "Truth or dare?"

"Do you even need to ask?" JJ grinned.

"Okay, er..." Tyler sighed, looking around before his gaze narrowed in on a single point. "The big jump. Nobody's done it yet. Dare."

It was true. There was a huge cliff on the island that they'd all vowed to jump off at one point, despite the drop being more than twenty metres. However, none of them had actually stayed true to their vows.

Until now.

"There he is," John B said, as they all lined up to watch the boy jump off the cliff. He was at the top by now, scrambling to stand up.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOO!" They all screamed, cupping their hands around their mouths.

"GO JJ!"

"He's not gonna do it! He's not gonna do i-!"

"OH I WON'T, HUH?" JJ grinned down at them.

"HE'S GONNA DO ITTTTTT!"

"It's highly dangerous, uh, zero reward? He's gonna do it," Pope assessed.

They all began to scream in joy and anticipation as JJ readied himself, standing back from the edge.

Then, with almost no hesitation, he ran straight forwards and pitched himself off the edge, doing a front flip on the way down before crashing straight into the water.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

They all instantly ran into the water to get him, Pope and Elora leading the way as they did. The redhead reached the blonde first as he walked out the water, crashing straight into him and spinning around. Pope, too, joined in on the hug as all the other Pogues gathered round.

"I actually thought I was gonna die!" JJ yelled as they all walked out the water, arm in arm with Elora and Cleo.

"You looked like you were gonna die!" Pope shouted.

Elora giggled, swinging slightly on JJ's arm as she looked around their little island paradise.

They had all they needed here.

And as much as she hated to admit it, this place had felt more like home than the OBX for a while.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

"Guys! Guys, guys, wake up! There's a plane!"

The sand was rough on Elora's side as she awoke to Pope's urgent voice, Cleo also shouting. "Guys, wake the hell up!"

She opened her eyes at the same time JJ did, the both of them adjusting slightly to the blue sky before seeing what was in it.

A plane, propellors turning rapidly, flying right above them.

"Tyler! Sarah! John B! Kie! Wake up!" JJ was going round all of them, shaking them slightly as gradually, all of the Pogues came to.

Pope was already up on top of the cliff, Cleo behind him. They were running to the small rescue fire that hadn't been touched in weeks, Pope holding a lighter tight.

Meanwhile, the other six were on the beach, waving their arms and screaming.

"HEY!" John B yelled. "HEY! WE'RE OVER HERE! OVER HERE!"

Well, other five.

Nobody really noticed, but JJ was standing off to the side, jaw tensed, expression slightly sad.

"HEYYYYYYYYYY!" Kie and Elora were screaming, both jumping up and down, waving their arms like crazy.

"HEY!"

"OVER HERE!"

"COME ON! PLEASE, PLEASE!"

But the plane wasn't turning.

It was flying away from them, over the sea.

"No..." Elora shook her head, biting her lip.

And then, like a fucking miracle, it started to loop.

"It's turning round! Look!"

"He sees us! Guys, guys, he sees us!" Kie shouted.

"He's gonna go to the pond!" John B shouted. "Come on, come on, come on!"

Elora's legs were still sore from her race yesterday, but she didn't care as she and the others collected all their stuff, which wasn't much, and raced over to the pond, where the plane was coming to a land.

FLYING FISH became visible in peeling yellow letters on the edge of the plane, as the engine came to a sputtering stop and the Pogues ran to it, a small set of stairs coming down.

"We did it!" Pope and Cleo came behind them, having just come down from the rocks.

"Hello, hello!" John B grinned as the pilot came out from the plane. He was a middle aged man wearing sunglasses and a slightly dirty shirt and trousers.

"Hey there!" He said as he climbed out.

Elora couldn't help but notice how Sarah looked at him very scrutinisingly as he climbed down and asked. "Now, what do we got here?"

"Uh... you know, just some castaways," shrugged JB.

The pilot chuckled. "Well, I'll cross that off the grocery list. Uh, hang on, I got just the thing for y'all, just one second."

As he disappeared inside the plane Elora turned to Sarah. "Do you recognise this dude?"

"I don't know," she replied.

"Two things you need on an island!" The man exclaimed. "First aid and rum! Incoming!"

He chucked a first aid kit at Pope and the rum onto the ground, asking. "So, what's the story? You guys sank a boat?"

"Er- jumped off of one," John B shrugged, pointing at Sarah. "Her dad's."

"In-laws, man," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "They're tough."

Elora bit her lip, looking around. Yes, they were finally getting out of here, but was that a good thing?

"Well, have no fear," the pilot said. "Jimmy's here. I got you!"

"Well all hail Jimmy, guys! Let's go!" Cleo exclaimed.

As they all made to board the plane, this Jimmy began to speak. "Welcome aboard the Flying Fish, y'all. I'm Jimmy Portis, I'll be your captain for the day. Is this all? Eight of you?"

"Uh, yeah," nodded Tyler. "That too heavy?"

"Uh, technically maybe, but I think old Fish here'll probably be okay. We could always throw somebody overboard, right?"

"Well, that just instills me with confidence," Elora muttered as John B and Sarah hopped aboard, Cleo and Pope following them.

She bit her lip, looking back at their island paradise. At the flag, at the big palm, at the cliff and the shelter and all the places that had become home over the past month.

"See ya later, Poguelandia," she murmured, giving their island a last little wave before jumping aboard.

The plane was pretty run down, but it wasn't terrible. She settled in next to Tyler as Kie and JJ finally got on and all the Pogues looked around at each other, unsure of what to do or say.

"So what were you doing all the way out here?" JJ asked once Jimmy was in the cockpit, getting ready to take off.

"I got a little guide outfit in Saint Vincent," Jimmy said casually. "I was spotting fish."

"What were you spotting?" JJ frowned.

"You know, the usual. Wahoo."

JJ and John B exchanged a gaze, and Elora knew exactly what they were thinking. Wahoo weren't around this time of year.

"I'd hang onto something," Jimmy informed them as he readied himself and put noise cancellors over his ears. "Gets a little spicy on takeoff!"

They all hung onto various handholds and ropes around them, muscles tensed and minds whirring.

They weren't losing each other.

But a part of each of them was definitely being left on that island.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Elora had never been on a plane before.

It was weird, the sensation of being up in the air, this Jimmy Portis guy completely in charge of where he was taking them.

Well, that bit was just plain scary.

They were only about five minutes into the journey, Jimmy listening to something through his headphones, when JJ pulled them all in, confident he couldn't head them.

"Wahoo don't run in September," he said firmly. "Ever, alright? So whoever this man is, he's not a fisherman."

Elora nodded as the harsh reality set in around them. They may have been alone on that island, but at least they were safe. Here... she couldn't say the same.

"Maybe the run just starts earlier out here?" Pope suggested.

"Are you sure about that? In the Carribean?" JJ frowned.

"No, I know what this is," Sarah shook her head, glancing at Portis. "He's working for my dad, and he's probably been looking for us this entire time."

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I wanna confirm this," Elora said.

"Yeah, let's start looking for some sort of... clues," JJ's eyes raked all around until they landed on a worn brown leather bag hung over Jimmy's seat.

With a signal to John B for a distraction, he readied himself to tuck in.

"Hey, Jimmy!" John B shouted.

"What's up?" Jimmy asked.

"How long have you had this bird?"

"Oh, about ten years now!"

"How long you been flying?"

"I've been flying all my life."

As John B asked more questions, JJ rifled through the pilot's bag, pulling out a book and a few other things.

He handed the book to Elora, who frowned at the cover, which read THE LOSS OF EL DORADO. She had no idea what the fuck that meant, and to be honest she didn't want to.

However, as she flipped it open, she didn't find words. There was a photograph inside, a photograph of a ship. A ship with COASTAL VENTURE in white letters on the front of it.

"It's the Coastal Venture," Sarah breathed, looking down at it. "This is the boat we were on, with Eberhimi and the cross."

"So he was looking for us?" Cleo murmured.

"Exactly," Tyler clenched his jaw.

Sarah winced. "He's working for my dad."

Just then, the plane lurched, and Jimmy yelled. "Hey, y'all better grab ahold of something! We got some unexpected turbulence up here!"

"Guys, whatever it is, it's happening fast," Kie strained her neck to look out the window. "Look."

They were still over the water, but to their left there was a huge town, with loads of buildings and houses.

"That looks like Barbados," Cleo said. "I've been there with Terrance."

"Okay," Elora breathed. "So what do we do? Take him out?"

"I'm right there with you," JJ nodded. "There's eight of us and one of him. You know my vote."

"So who's gonna fly the plane, then?" Tyler asked wisely.

"I've seen Pope fly simulators!"

"I crop-dusted for my uncle last summer, that is not the same thing-"

"We don't have time to pretend that's a real option!" Kie snarled.

"Okay, so what's your idea?" Elora demanded. "We need to do something and as much as I'd like to beat the shit outta Ward right now, this is not really the moment-"

"Why don't we just wait until the plane lands and then sneak out?" Pope asked, as JJ set about gathering up the stuff they'd stolen from the bag.

"Hey Jimmy, is that Burning Man?" John B acted as a distraction again as JJ began to open the bag.

"Yeah, that's Burning Man, alright, man, I started going when I was eighteen!"

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about it, I-"

"Hey man, what the HELL are you doing, man-?"

"JJ-"

In a flash, Portis had noticed JJ, and shoved him across the compartment. The plane dipped rapidly as he lost control, and all of them began yelling.

"THAT'S MINE!" Portis roared, seizing the bag and wrenching it away from them as John B and JJ tried to fight.

"WHO ARE YOU REALLY, HUH-?"

"FLY THE FUCKING PLANE!" Elora screamed as they all slammed into each other, losing height at an alarming rate.

"THAT'S MY BOOK, GIVE IT BACK-"

"FLY THE PLANE, PLEASE FLY THE PLANE-"

Jimmy seemed to finally come to his senses then, stopping fighting with JJ and John B and wrenching his hands back onto the controls.

"Shit, shit, shit-" Elora cursed, shaking her head as the plane began to shake and they all got flung about.

And she was screaming and looking and all she could see was the ground getting closer and closer and closer and then-

CRASH!

Impact.